The selection for Tanztreffen der Jugend 2026 has been announced!
More than 60 productions from across Germany applied to take part in this year’s Tanztreffen der Jugend. After the expert jury had the opportunity to view the shortlisted works live, the jurors selected 10 productions for the final programme. We would like to thank the jury for their diligent and dedicated work and warmly congratulate the selected productions:
Die Ermittlung – based on Peter Weiss
Oberstufentheatergruppe des Dientzenhofer-Gymnasiums
Bamberg, Bavaria
dg-info.de
find no words to say
JugendTanzCompany fabrik Potsdam
Brandenburg
fabrikpotsdam.de
Herzhaft romantisch
TanzTheater-AG Neukölln 11, Schule am Bienwaldring, Special Educational Needs Centre specialising in intellectual development
Berlin
schule-am-bienwaldring.de
LA PREMIERE FOIS
EMMATHEO
Stuttgart, Baden-Wuerttemberg
instagram.com/emma_theo.z
Nichts wird vergessen
Perform[d]ance Jugendkompanie, Perform[d]ance e. V.
Stralsund, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
performdance.de
Schwarz
Zhechang Yuan AKA Mr. Chaos
Munich, Bavaria
Streetvoices
SYMBIONYX Jugend Tanz Company, independent group led by Sonja Reischl
Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia
instagram.com/symbionyx_dancecompany
Till Eulenspiegel – Teile Von Mir
theater für niedersachsen, tfn-Jugendensemble in cooperation with SALTAZIO, Schule der Tanzkünste
Hildesheim, Lower Saxony
tfn-online.de/programm/produktion/eulenspiegel-tanz, saltazio.de
ver_rückt
iMove, Saarländisches Staatstheater
Saarbrücken, Saarland
blog.staatstheater.saarland/imove-das-jugendtanzensemble-stellt-sich-vor
zwischenkörpern
Soley Huber and Jonathan Walker
tanzApartment-Studio
Berlin
tanzapartment.de
The selected works range from a solo and two duets to ensemble productions featuring up to 20 performers. They include pieces lasting 10 or 15 minutes as well as full-length choreographic works. Among the selected productions is also an inclusive ensemble. The works were created in a wide variety of contexts – in schools, at independent theatres, in youth clubs affiliated with state theatres, in independent groups based in youth cultural centres, and in dance theatres and dance schools.
One striking feature is the extent to which many productions explore and transcend disciplinary boundaries, drawing on a range of artistic practices. Several works reveal a close relationship between dance and theatre. The programme includes devised pieces, collages, adaptations of classical material, and explorations of philosophical themes. Many of the works engage with political and social issues, some explicitly positioning themselves as forms of activist expression.
The artists work with reduced and abstract imagery, choral speech, and direct interaction with audiences. In some productions, the performers engage in a direct dialogue with the audience, challenge expectations, or invite active engagement. The selected works are characterised by an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating elements of theatre, object theatre, mask performance, and visual art alongside dance.
Projections, text within the performance space, live camera work, original compositions, live music, and performative elements such as live graffiti expand the choreographic works into, at times, immersive and installation-like stage environments. Costumes and stage design are often carefully conceived, with colours, materials, and masks playing a significant role in shaping each production’s visual language.
The thematic range of the selected works is broad, yet consistently marked by a strong sense of social relevance. Several productions engage intensively with the period of National Socialism, including the first Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial (1963–1965) and the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Literary works such as Peter Weiss’s The Investigation serve as important points of reference. These productions see themselves as contributions to a culture of remembrance and as artistic acts against forgetting. They express a clear commitment to fostering historical awareness among young people and to countering contemporary social developments, particularly the rise of right-wing populism. Here, dance becomes a means of making the unspeakable visible and of creating emotional points of access where language reaches its limits.
Alongside these historical and political concerns, the selected works explore personal and existential questions: moments of overwhelming emotion for which words are insufficient; the search for one’s own voice; fear and self-confidence, particularly in the context of urban dance cultures; interpersonal relationships; and the transition from childhood to adulthood. Philosophical themes such as love, loss, death, and the cycles of life also feature prominently.
Critical perspectives on society emerge in explorations of norms and conventions – for example through the figure of Till Eulenspiegel – as well as in reflections on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and questions surrounding what constitutes “normality” and “madness” in contemporary society.
Stylistically, the selected works span contemporary dance and urban dance styles such as Hip-Hop, Breaking, House, Krump, Waacking, Popping and Locking. These are complemented by elements of Physical Theatre, Improvisation, Contact Improvisation, as well as influences from historical dance forms and non-European movement traditions, including Chinese martial arts. The young dance-makers show a strong commitment to artistic research, generating their own choreographic material from everyday movement and developing distinctive movement vocabularies from the styles in which they have trained.
The creative processes behind the works were predominantly collaborative and participatory. Shared research, writing processes, improvisation, and techniques of transformation and reinterpretation form the basis of the choreographic work. Personal experiences and statements from the participants often find their way directly into the performances. The result is a body of work distinguished by remarkable stage presence, a high level of technical accomplishment, and considerable expressive power. The impressive energy of the movement, the precision and synchronisation of the ensembles, and the ability to use dance as a language for expressing what cannot easily be put into words are defining characteristics of this year’s selection.
We would also like to extend our congratulations once again to the ensembles that reached the shortlist for their outstanding dance works. They will join Tanztreffen der Jugend as part of a delegation.
gemEinsam
Jugendtanzensemble, Tanzerei-Verein e. V.
Fürth, Bavaria
jugendtanzensemble.de
Interlude Inn
Juniorcompany der Älteren, Leipziger Tanztheater e. V.
Leipzig, Saxony
leipzigertanztheater.de
PUSHED
ARS SALTANDI Concept Company, ARS SALTANDI e. V.
Hildesheim, Lower Saxony
arssaltandi.de
SCHOCK
ACADEMY – Bühnenkunstschule für Jugendliche
Berlin
academy-buehnenkunstschule.de
TRACKS
Jugendkompanie tanzhaus nrw
Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia
tanzhaus-nrw.de/de/veranstaltung/2026/05/tracks
WIR!
Jugendkultursommer Ingolstadt – an inclusive, culturally educational dance theatre programme
Ingolstadt City Youth Council, part of the Bavarian Youth
Ingolstadt, Bavaria
sjr-in.de/jugendkultursommer